Gripping mechanism for printing presses



Sept. 30,1924. 1,510,310

H. C. COWDREY GRIPPING MECHANISM FOR PRINTI NG PRESSES Filed Feb. 21. 1923 INVENTOR H. C. Con/012.31

A m/Mrs Patented Sept. 30, 1924.

STATES HARRY C. GOWDREY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y;

GRIPPING MECHANISM FCR PRINTING PRESSES.

Application filed February 21, 1923. Serial No. 620,525.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY C. GownREY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Gripping Mechanism for Printing Presses, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

' This invention relates to improvements in printing presses and has particular refer ence to a gripping mechanism therefor.

An object of theinvention is to greatly increase the speed of operation of the press by providing a novel mechanism which is automatically actuated during the printing operation to remove a sheet or the like from the platen of the press and deposit the same in a suitable place. H

Another object is the provision of a gripping mechanism including means which operates to engage and grip the sheet while the same is being printed and thereafter to remove said sheet from the platen.

' The above and other objects will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

In the drawing-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a handoperated printing press of known construction showing the present invention applied thereto;

F igure 2 is an enlarged detailed plan view of the platen of the press illustrating the manner of attaching the gripping mechanism thereto; I r

FigureBis a section on the line 33 of F a na;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 44 of Figure 3 and ljigure 5 is a section on the line 5l=-5' of Figure 2. i

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawing, the numeral 6 indicates the ordinary platen of aprinting press which is designed to cooperate with the type bed '7 in accomplishing a printing operation. The invention is shown in connection with a press of the hand-operated type,

which includes the handle 8 for operating the parts, but it is to be expressly understood that the gripping mechanism comprising the essential features of the invention, may bet-applied to other types of presses without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

In carrying out the present invention, a supporting member 9 is provided in the form of a bar attached in any suitable manner to a side edge of the platen frame and this member is extended outwardly beyond the front edge of said platen, as clearly shown in Figure 2. At a point contiguous to the front edge of the platen 6 the supporting member 9 is provided with a lateral extension 10, to which is attached a pivot 11 in the form of a screw member, the shank of which is engaged by the pivoted end of an oscillatory operating arm 12 designed to move about said pivot. A spring 13 has a portion thereof coiled about the pivoted end of the arm 12 and has one of its extremities 14 engaged with said arm in such manner that the spring has a normal tendency to move the arm about its pivot 11 to a position parallel with the front edge of the platen 6, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2. In the operation of the mechanism this is the position that said arm assumes just previous to the operation of printing the sheet 15 which is held on the platen 6 by suitable gauges 16. The outer or free end of the arm 12 is preferably enlarged, as indicated at 17, and supports upon its upper surface the cooperating resilient gripping members 18 which extend laterally from the arm 12 and which are designed to receive the forward edge of the sheet 15 therebetween. The gripping members are held in position on the enlarged portion 17 by means of a clamp 19, which overlies the inner or fixed ends of the members 18. The clamp is secured in its clamping position by means of a bolt 21 or other suitable fastener, which extends through the portion 17 and aligned slots 22 extending longitudinally of the members 18, said slots permitting of an adjustment of the members 18 transversely with respect to the arm 12. Means is also provided for accomplishing a slight adjustment of themem-bers 18 toward and away from the arm 12, or, in

other words, in a substantially vertical di rection whereby said members 18 may be adjusted with respect to the sheet 15 on the platen, in order that said sheet will be engaged between the members 18 when the same are moved to their gripping positions. This means preferably includes a pair of screw members 23 threaded into the enlarged end 17 of the arm 12 and engageable with the lower gripping member 18, where by the gripping members may be forced upwardly after the nut of bolt 21 has been slightly withdrawn. When the desired adjustment of the members 18 has been attained, the members 18 may be secured in position by tightening the bolt 21, which will cause the clamp 19 to exert a clampin action upon said members 18.

When the press is in the position shown in Figure l, the gripping mechanism is in its inoperative position and is retained in such position by reason of a flexible connection 24., one end of which is connected to the outer or free end of the arm 12 as at 25., the connection 21 being then extended through guides 26 on the supporting arm 9 and from thence around pulley 27 secured to the base of the press, the other extremity of the connection being secured to the operating handle 8. In the normal operation of the press, a sheet is mounted upon the platen 6 when the parts are in the position shown in Figure 1, after which the handle 8 is moved forwardly to accomplish the printing operation. In this forward movement of the handie 8, tension upon the connection 24: is relieved, and under the influence of the spring 13, the arm 12 is moved toward the dotted line position shown in Figure 2. At the termination of this movement the gripping members 18 engage on opposite sides of the sheet 15 and remain in this position while the sheet is being printed.

Upon a reversal of the movement of the operating handle 8 following the printing operation, a pull is exerted upon the connection 24 which moves the arm 12 back toward its normal position against the tension of the spring 13, thus withdrawing the sheet 15. from the platen 6. In order that the sheet may be automatically detached from the gripping members 18 and deposited in "a convenient place, the invention provides means preferably in the form of a bracket 28 arranged transversely with respect to the supporting member 9 and having one end secured thereto. The opposite end of the bracket 28 is provided with a longitudinal slot 29 for receiving a bolt 30, which is utilized to secure an abutment 31 to the bracket '28 and transversely thereof. By reason of the slot '29, it is obvious that the abutment may be adjusted longitudinally of the bracket so as to be operable at any desired instant to accomplish the detachment of the sheet from the gripping members. abutment is secured in its adjusted positions on the bracket by means of a wing nut 32 mounted on the bolt 30. The abutment is provided at each end thereof with a depending flange or extension 33 which, when the abutment is in proper position, is disposed The in the path of movement of the sheet 15 as the same is being extracted from the platen so that when the arm 12'approaches its normal position, an edge of the sheet 15 will engage either or both of said flanges 33, where upon further movement of the arm 12 will detach the sheet from the members 18.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that .by reason of the grippin mechanism, the operator of the press need not manually remove a printed sheet from the platen and has his hands free to operate the handle 8 and place sheets to be printed upon the platen, thereby greatly v'fa cilitat ing the printing operation and increasing the speed thereof. I

What is claimed is: r i

1. In a gripping mechanism for prinltin presses, the combination with a platen an an operating handle for the press; of :gripi ping members associated with said platen, means for operating said gripping members to engage the same witha sheet on said platen, and flexible means connected to :said operating handleand said gripping members and actuated by said handle to move said gripping members to withdraw said sheet from the platen.

2. In a gripping mechanism for printing presses, the combination with a platen and an operating handle for the press; of gripping members associated with said platen, means for operating said gripping members to engage the same with a sheet on said platen, flexible means connected to said operating handle and said gripping members and actuated by said handle to move said gripping members to withdraw said sheet from the platen, and means arranged in the path of movement of said sheet as the "same is being withdrawntodetach said sheet from said gripping members.

3. 1n a gripping mechanism for printin' presses, the combination with-a platen'an an operating handle for the press; ofloscillatory gripping members associated with said platen, means for operatingsaid gripping members to engage the same with a sheet on said platen before the sheet is printed, and flexible means connected tosaid operating handle and said gripping'members members to engage the same with a sheet on said platen before the sheet is printed, flexible means connected to said operating handle and said gripping members and actuated by said handle to move saidgripping 5. In a gripping mechanism for printing 1 resses, a supporting member secured to the platen of a press, an arm pivoted to said supporting member, gripping members carried by said arm and movable to engage a sheet on said platen, means for moving said gripping members to gripping position, other means connected to said arm for moving the gripping members to detach a sheet 15 from said platen, and an abutment carried by said supporting member and arranged in the path of movement of said sheet and engagealble therewith as the same is being Withdrawn from the platen to detach said sheet 20 from said gripping members.

HARRY C. COWDREY. 

